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Thread: Why "geeking out" is pointless

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    Why "geeking out" is pointless

    Films, TV, popular music, and mass media as a whole are primarily just mindless entertainment, as they've been since their earliest origins - if they weren't, they wouldn't sell to millions of people to begin with. And the majority of "critics" are just sales pitchmen who have no depth of knowledge and understanding of their subject matter, and are just using 'big words' to write pseudo-intellectual advertisements under the guise of 'critical reviews'.

    Why would anyone trust an overweight, balding, man-child (or woman-child) on the internet who writes "critical reviews" of movies to understand anything about "plot" or "character" development to begin with, when it's obvious that their emotional intelligence became stunted at around age 11? (Or worse yet, trust their opinions on political issues).


    There isn't a single film, TV show, or popular song I've heard in my life which has ever struck me as profoundly as deeper literature I've read, the authors of which, most have never heard has heard of. Even films which are given "Oscars" or shows given "Emmies" are primarily just mindless action or drama and the awards are really just 'participation' awards with the primary aim of enhancing sales.

    This is why "geeking out" is ultimately pointless, it's a vice, not a virtue - just about arguing over the most insignificant details possible as if they were life or death issues, or using TL;DR essays full of fluffy words to try to locate "depth" in things which the author was too ADHD to have cared about to begin with. It's the equivalent of tween girls talking about horoscopes in an issue of Teen Vogue, nothing more than a guilty pleasure devoid of any substance.

    That doesn't mean it's "wrong", but profound? It's as "profound" as beating as beating one off in the guy's locker room.
    Last edited by Devil'sAdvocate; 11-28-2017 at 09:19 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Devil'sAdvocate View Post
    Films, TV, popular music, and mass media as a whole are primarily just mindless entertainment, as they've been since their earliest origins - if they weren't, they wouldn't sell to millions of people to begin with. And the majority of "critics" are just sales pitchmen who have no depth of knowledge and understanding of their subject matter, and are just using 'big words' to write pseudo-intellectual advertisements under the guise of 'critical reviews'.

    Why would anyone trust an overweight, balding, man-child (or woman-child) on the internet who writes "critical reviews" of movies to understand anything about "plot" or "character" development to begin with, when it's obvious that their emotional intelligence became stunted at around age 11? (Or worse yet, trust their opinions on political issues).


    There isn't a single film, TV show, or popular song I've heard in my life which has ever struck me as profoundly as deeper literature I've read, the authors of which, most have never heard has heard of. Even films which are given "Oscars" or shows given "Emmies" are primarily just mindless action or drama and the awards are really just 'participation' awards with the primary aim of enhancing sales.

    This is why "geeking out" is ultimately pointless, it's a vice, not a virtue - just about arguing over the most insignificant details possible as if they were life or death issues, or using TL;DR essays full of fluffy words to try to locate "depth" in things which the author was too ADHD to have cared about to begin with. It's the equivalent of tween girls talking about horoscopes in an issue of Teen Vogue, nothing more than a guilty pleasure devoid of any substance.

    That doesn't mean it's "wrong", but profound? It's as "profound" as beating as beating one off in the guy's locker room.
    Are you done?

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    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

    "Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas and not eat a chicken fried steak." - Larry McMurtry

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    Quote Originally Posted by Standing Wolf View Post
    Are you done?

    Good. Clean up after yourself and leave now.

    Thank you.
    Really?
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

    Book of Democrat Things, Chapter 1:1






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    Quote Originally Posted by resister View Post
    Really?
    People who go into forums that are designed specifically for those interested in certain topics - in the case of this one, popular entertainment - just to rag on those who share that interest are trolls and worse than trolls. R, I think most of us are fascinated by your stories and photos about fossil-hunting, but what would you think if someone came in in the middle of one of your threads and started ridiculing you for "digging in the dirt for stupid bones", etc.? It is bad faith in spades to do something like that.

    Humans have been fascinated by stories about other people having adventures for as long as language has existed. Gilgamesh, Odysseus, The Icelandic Eddas, Beowulf, the various pantheons of gods, demi-gods and heroes - you find them in the Classics section now, but in their day they were Star Wars and the Marvel Universe and the Walking Dead and then some. Most of the "geeks", nerds and fanboys that I know are extraordinarily well-read and literate people. Just as the most jaded foodie may sometimes just want a street corner hot dog or some fast food French fries, an equivalent situation exists with books, films and entertainment generally.

    I know a professor of Literature at a local university who works part-time in a comic store; he has been buying and reading comics for more than forty years and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. Several of the smartest people I know, educated professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time reading, discussing and debating about the adventures of a certain fictional Nineteenth Century English consulting detective, whose exploits first appeared in a popular magazine of the time.

    Movies, comics, television shows, popular fiction - they have the power to bring diverse individuals - regardless of age, background, education, race, or anything else - together in appreciating a good story well told. This sub-forum of the board serves a very useful purpose. Those with sticks up their butts have plenty of other places to hang out.
    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

    "Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas and not eat a chicken fried steak." - Larry McMurtry

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    Quote Originally Posted by Standing Wolf View Post
    People who go into forums that are designed specifically for those interested in certain topics - in the case of this one, popular entertainment - just to rag on those who share that interest are trolls and worse than trolls. R, I think most of us are fascinated by your stories and photos about fossil-hunting, but what would you think if someone came in in the middle of one of your threads and started ridiculing you for "digging in the dirt for stupid bones", etc.? It is bad faith in spades to do something like that.

    Humans have been fascinated by stories about other people having adventures for as long as language has existed. Gilgamesh, Odysseus, The Icelandic Eddas, Beowulf, the various pantheons of gods, demi-gods and heroes - you find them in the Classics section now, but in their day they were Star Wars and the Marvel Universe and the Walking Dead and then some. Most of the "geeks", nerds and fanboys that I know are extraordinarily well-read and literate people. Just as the most jaded foodie may sometimes just want a street corner hot dog or some fast food French fries, an equivalent situation exists with books, films and entertainment generally.

    I know a professor of Literature at a local university who works part-time in a comic store; he has been buying and reading comics for more than forty years and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. Several of the smartest people I know, educated professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time reading, discussing and debating about the adventures of a certain fictional Nineteenth Century English consulting detective, whose exploits first appeared in a popular magazine of the time.

    Movies, comics, television shows, popular fiction - they have the power to bring diverse individuals - regardless of age, background, education, race, or anything else - together in appreciating a good story well told. This sub-forum of the board serves a very useful purpose. Those with sticks up their butts have plenty of other places to hang out.
    I did not connect the "geeking out" part. To be honest, I thought it was slang for "tweeking" AKA, up for days, cranking. Meth.

    But, to be fair he posted his own thread and thoughts.
    Last edited by resister; 11-28-2017 at 11:29 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by resister View Post
    I did not connect the "geeking out" part. To be honest, I thought it was slang for "tweeking" AKA, up for days, cranking. Meth.
    I think originally "geeking out" would have involved biting the head off a live chicken.
    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

    "Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas and not eat a chicken fried steak." - Larry McMurtry

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    Quote Originally Posted by Standing Wolf View Post
    People who go into forums that are designed specifically for those interested in certain topics - in the case of this one, popular entertainment - just to rag on those who share that interest are trolls and worse than trolls. R, I think most of us are fascinated by your stories and photos about fossil-hunting, but what would you think if someone came in in the middle of one of your threads and started ridiculing you for "digging in the dirt for stupid bones", etc.? It is bad faith in spades to do something like that.

    Humans have been fascinated by stories about other people having adventures for as long as language has existed. Gilgamesh, Odysseus, The Icelandic Eddas, Beowulf, the various pantheons of gods, demi-gods and heroes - you find them in the Classics section now, but in their day they were Star Wars and the Marvel Universe and the Walking Dead and then some. Most of the "geeks", nerds and fanboys that I know are extraordinarily well-read and literate people. Just as the most jaded foodie may sometimes just want a street corner hot dog or some fast food French fries, an equivalent situation exists with books, films and entertainment generally.

    I know a professor of Literature at a local university who works part-time in a comic store; he has been buying and reading comics for more than forty years and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. Several of the smartest people I know, educated professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time reading, discussing and debating about the adventures of a certain fictional Nineteenth Century English consulting detective, whose exploits first appeared in a popular magazine of the time.

    Movies, comics, television shows, popular fiction - they have the power to bring diverse individuals - regardless of age, background, education, race, or anything else - together in appreciating a good story well told. This sub-forum of the board serves a very useful purpose. Those with sticks up their butts have plenty of other places to hang out.
    "Geeking out" doesn't imply well-read, it just implies unhealthy and disproportionately obsessive, or to "fandom" what an Islamic fundamentalist is to religion.

    And what you wrote above argues my point, people have been into various stories of different kinds for most of history, so that begs the question why any obsessive 'fandom' disproportionately devoted to a specific franchise, character, genre, etc would need to exist (e.x. I see nothing "objective" about Star Wars that warrants such a disproportionate level of fandom compared other films of similar subject matter and quality).

    In a way, that jives with my thoughts about their being parallels between fandom, and other forms of religious or ideological extremism, to the point that "fandom" may even just be a modern psychological surrogate for what religious fanaticism once served.
    Last edited by Devil'sAdvocate; 11-29-2017 at 12:54 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by resister View Post
    I did not connect the "geeking out" part. To be honest, I thought it was slang for "tweeking" AKA, up for days, cranking. Meth.

    But, to be fair he posted his own thread and thoughts.
    I was geeking out about the purpose of "geeking out"...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Devil'sAdvocate View Post
    I was geeking out about the purpose of "geeking out"...
    OK, kk Kay! *insert little john, here*
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

    Book of Democrat Things, Chapter 1:1






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